halo 'n horns [klance au]

14. Friendly Competition pt.2

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Lance

I crouched by the blockade, eyes squinting through the cascade of fluorescence in front of me for movement. Keith would normally have the advantage in a laser tag arena- his eyes naturally adjusted better to the darkness than mine did. But the thing is, Keith was good at close distance combat. I was sure he did more than enough training with the Blade down in the Underworld. I, however, was an excellent shot, though, and lucky for me, this was a distance game.

I heard the sound of blasters to my left and rolled to the other side of the blockade, holding the plastic gun to my chest.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a flash of bright red movement. I swiveled and shot, a beam of blue light emitting from my blaster. The opponent, my enemy, cursed quietly as one of his lights on his vest flickered where I hit him and he ran back from where he came. I sprung back behind the blockade, making my way in short bursts to the center of action.

Movement on my right. I turned quickly, holding up my gun, but relaxed when I realized that she was wearing blue lights. We continued forward together, eyes darting in every direction as we crept towards the main fight.

To my right, a flicker of red. The girl and I both fired, but the blue lasers only hit the wall behind the person- they'd ducked too quickly. The two of us ran to hide behind a wall. I checked my ammo- still pretty good. I was saving it for Keith, though, as he was sure to outlast most of his team.

The girl and I crept forward, watching from a railing down below to the floor beneath us, where the main area was lit up with flashes of blue and red fluorescent beams. I tried to pick out Keith from the fray, but everyone was moving so fast, I couldn't keep track of many.

I gestured to the ramp that led down to the main floor and the girl nodded, big glasses glinting with the lights. She crept down the ramp with her blaster drawn, me on her heels, and we snuck down towards our side, merging with the rest of the blue team. I felt a vibration on my vest and immediately dropped to the ground, rolling behind a barricade.

"Quiznak," I swore quietly- sure enough, I'd been hit. I still had my chest, stomach, and blaster regions unharmed, though, so if I could just make it through to find Keith, I'd be okay.

Someone cheered as a blue fighter to my right was hit in the chest, his last unharmed region, and he sighed, holding up his hands in surrender as he jogged over to the waiting area where several other players lounged, looking out at the game. I looked around for the girl I had been with, but she'd slipped away.

I progressed forward alone, sending shots where I could, thankfully hitting every target. Sliding behind barricades and ducking when necessary, I found myself alone in an open space, ears alert for any footsteps. I heard nothing, so I paused, catching my breath, trying to squint through the bright lights for a flash of red.

Unfortunately, Keith was a lot quieter than I thought he was. My vest vibrated and I bolted for a wall, ducking and rolling as soon as I could. A red laser hit the wall behind me. I grimaced.

"Hello, Halohead!" Keith called in a sultry voice. I could practically hear his damn smirk. I looked down at my vest. Just my chest and my blaster left unharmed. I bit my lip, concentrating for a few seconds. There, we were cloaked from mortal eyes.

I closed my eyes, honing my hearing towards the area behind me. A footstep. A slight inhale. The rustle of his clothes. Bingo. Adjusting my weight in my crouch, I inhaled, paused, and then sprung backward.

I sailed over the wall I had been hiding behind, wings extending in a fraction of a fraction of a second, catching the air to lift my backflip over to the other side of the hexagonal enclosure. I landed gracefully on my feet, wings sweeping up beside me.

Keith whirled, blaster pointed, and, just as I knew he would, started firing again. But I was a force to be reckoned with. I was pure movement, cartwheeling and flipping around the beams, wings shielding my vest from the lasers I couldn't avoid, sending off fire towards Keith as well. In all but a few seconds, I had hit his blaster, his back, and his stomach, so that all that remained was his chest region.

I wanted to save that for last. Keith, frustrated with my hits, growled, firing off more and more shots. I was dancing, running, skipping along the perimeter of the small area, wings lifting me off the ground and somersaulting me around when I needed.

I giggled, unable to help myself, as red lasers cascaded around me, trapping me for only a millisecond before I was off again.

Tired of dancing away, I made a split decision, ricocheting off one of the walls and shooting towards Keith, tackling him around the waist. We landed hard and I heard his breath whoosh out of his lungs as we hit the hard ground.

Groaning, Keith scrambled for his blaster, which was just out of reach. I shook my head, trying to regain my senses. I was practically on top of Keith, our legs tangled, my wings splayed around us. My elbows shook as I held myself up, palms planted firmly on either side of my head. My blaster lay beside my right hand. I didn't reach for it.

Keith was finally able to reach his gun and he jabbed my chest with it, a threatening glare in his eyes. I think he noticed how close we were. "Get off," he grunted.

I cocked my head to the side, sending him an angelic smile. "Make me," I replied sweetly.

His finger pressed the trigger. But of course, as I'd anticipated, he was out of ammo. In the split second before he could reload, I'd grabbed my own blaster and sent a laser to his chest. His vest vibrated, the red lighted flashing, before it went dark.

I'd won.

Keith wiggled out from under me and stood, brushing dirt off of his shirt and vest. I stood too, arms crossed with a gloating grin.

Keith scowled at me. "Oh, shut up, Halohead."

...

ahhhh im so sorry this one took so long guys- i hope i've made it up to you with this double post <33 the reason I'm posting in the literal middle of the week is because... THIS WEEKEND IS WATTCON!!! yeaaaaaahhhhh so im super excited for that but it means that I probably won't be able to update this weekend since I'll be so busy! bUT I'll keep writing and publish again asap

what'd you think of the chapter? ;)

are any of you guys going to wattcon too? i know I sound like a broken record asking literally every chapter, i just really want to meet some of my readers, yknow?

anyways

qotd: what is your horoscope? do you think it fits you well? 

aotd: i'm a taurus! and yes, I do think it fits me well bc i'm v stubborn and loyal :)) i even have a necklace with the taurus constellation on it bc i associate v closely with the sign. 

love you guys!!! <333